


Tunnel of Love

by ForAllLove



Category: The Magnificent Seven (2016)
Genre: Billy Likes Rocks, Caves, Established Relationship, Fluff, International Fanworks Day 2017, Lava Tubes, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-16
Updated: 2017-02-16
Packaged: 2018-09-25 00:36:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9794573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForAllLove/pseuds/ForAllLove
Summary: They lit their lanterns there, as deep underground as Billy had ever been. He felt full to bursting with excitement.Goody offered a smile for a smile. “Onward?”“Onward.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is similar to, yet the inverse of, [Belly of the Beast](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8596264) by [Poemsingreenink](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Poemsingreenink), so give that a look as well.
> 
> Thanks to [28ghosts](http://archiveofourown.org/users/28ghosts) and [Nopholom](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Nopholom) for their beta work.

Billy scampered down the rocky slope into darkness. A breeze nipped at his cheeks despite the sleepy afternoon heat, wailing through the mouth of the cave, rich with the scent of cool, damp earth. He slipped between boulders the size of barrels until the ground leveled, then turned back to beckon for Goody, who was picking his way down with frustrating care.

They lit their lanterns there, as deep underground as Billy had ever been. He felt full to bursting with excitement.

Goody offered a smile for a smile. “Onward?”

“Onward.”

The tunnel narrowed; boulders soon gave way to soft, ashy sand. Somehow, Billy’s toes were already gritty with it inside his boots. He cast his lantern about, gilding smooth walls sparkling with rivulets of water. There was no echo of dripping, though. There was hardly any noise at all, not from their footsteps or the draft that made him glad of his winter coat. A little stream ran along one wall. He peered into it, looking for fish.

A little further on, the walls began drawing together to pinch the tunnel into two. Billy set the lantern down and scaled the ripples of stone, striped with white and grey. Goody was protesting below him; Billy escaped down the upper tunnel, laughing.

The floor had a gap in it. Every time he looked down, Billy could see Goody fretting as he followed with both lanterns.

“Is it better up there?”

“It’s nice,” Billy said, even though it was the same.

The upper tunnel did not go on for long. Billy climbed down much the same as he went up, except this time Goody was trying to help. Billy stole a kiss and a lantern and took off around the bend.

Goody caught him where the ceiling dipped low with laughter still in his eyes. Just to tease, Billy ducked away into the low part. He made Goody chase him because he could, whooping, scuttling bent-over across the uneven floor, sometimes steadying himself against the stone, until Goody stopped following him with a thump and a hiss.

Billy hustled back to where Goody had plopped onto his rump in the dust. “You all right? Let me see.” He combed through Goody’s hair with his fingertips. “No blood.”

“It’s an invisible wound,” Goody said. “Only true love’s kiss will save me.”

Billy squinted at him. “Did you really hit your head?”

“Yes, and it hurts.”

Goody was laughing now, so it must not have hurt too badly; Billy chose to believe him anyway. He kissed Goody’s forehead once, then again, then his eyebrow, his nose, the apple of his cheek, tipping his dear face this way and that. Goody caught him up in snug arms, beaming up at him as though Billy were more marvelous than any work of the earth. Billy kissed his lips until they parted in a smile.

“Onward?” Goody asked.

Billy shook his head. “We should go back.” Goody had followed him this far to see him happy. Now that his curiosity was satisfied, Billy was more interested in returning the favor than in exploring further, and there was no better way to do that than by sharing good food and good company. Besides, it was cold.

“Are you sure?” Goody let Billy pull him up anyway, eager to get back into sunlight and fresh air. He grimaced at the dust on his hands; wiping them on his clothes made everything worse. Billy decided not to tell him how dirty his face was yet.

They gathered up the lanterns and headed back the way they came. This time, it was Goody in the lead as Billy trailed behind. Goody lifted his lantern high, more comfortable with looking now that he had passed this way once before. Head tipped back and lips drawn into a little circle, he glowed golden in the candlelight, a small bright spot in the fathomless darkness. Billy closed the distance between them.

The sun was still high in the sky when they clambered out to their campsite. The horses grazed where they had left them. Billy felt he had spent a lifetime underground. Goody tried to hide a smile at the dust covering Billy, as though he were any better; for that, Billy left handprints on every clean spot he could find while they shed their outer clothes. The heat was heavier than the weight of the earth had been. There would be ample time to bathe and dry before suppertime.

Goody nudged him with a hand stained grey up to the wrist. “Here.” Billy let his suspenders fall around his legs. Goody dropped a bit of stone, creased like cloth and nearly as light, into his waiting hands. “For your collection.”

Billy ran his thumb over the smooth ridges. Soon, he would find someone who knew why rock could ripple like water. Goody stroked his cheek, no doubt smearing dirt in his wake, and sauntered down towards the river with an armful of their clothes. Billy tucked the stone away and followed him down.

**Author's Note:**

> For anyone who doesn't remember the old tunnels of love, they were a little romantic, a little spooky, and a whole lot of private.
> 
> Lava tubes are very cool. I've been in this one several times.
> 
> Billy chooses specimens for his rock collection entirely by sentiment. Each one has a story. The plainest is the one Goodnight dug out from under his back on a particularly significant evening. The second plainest is the one that got into Billy's boot.


End file.
